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86-414: Trauttmansdorff Castle is a castle located south of the city of Merano , South Tyrol , northern Italy. To the east the castle is protected by dense forest and steep terrain. To the north, south, and west the castle is fortified by terrain and original fortification walls (from the original Neuburg Fortress built in the 14th century). The castle is adorned with gardens to the north and south. The site of

172-400: A 1759 image, the eagle is represented with a crown and a green wreath of honour. After World War I and the annexation of the city from Austria-Hungary to Italy, it was given a new coat of arms in 1928, which looked similar to the old one, but with five parts of the battlements and the arches with the gates opened on a lawn of shamrock. A mural crown was placed above the shield. The five parts of

258-693: A 2016 article that Kafka may have had borderline personality disorder with co-occurring psychophysiological insomnia . Joan Lachkar interpreted Die Verwandlung as "a vivid depiction of the borderline personality" and described the story as "model for Kafka's own abandonment fears, anxiety, depression, and parasitic dependency needs. Kafka illuminated the borderline's general confusion of normal and healthy desires, wishes, and needs with something ugly and disdainful". Though Kafka never married, he held marriage and children in high esteem. He had several girlfriends and lovers during his life. He may have suffered from an eating disorder. Doctor Manfred M. Fichter of

344-542: A central role in his life and literary work, and those who deny the connection altogether or dismiss its importance, are both wrong. The truth lies in some very elusive place between these two simplistic poles." Kafka considered moving to Palestine with Felice Bauer, and later with Dora Diamant. He studied Hebrew while living in Berlin, hiring a friend of Brod's from Palestine, Pua Bat-Tovim, to tutor him and attending Rabbi Julius Grünthal and Rabbi Julius Guttmann 's classes in

430-424: A creative outburst on the night of 22 September 1912, Kafka wrote the story "Das Urteil" ("The Judgment", literally: "The Verdict") and dedicated it to Felice Bauer. Brod noted the similarity in names of the main character and his fictional fiancée, Georg Bendemann and Frieda Brandenfeld, to Franz Kafka and Felice Bauer. The story is often considered Kafka's breakthrough work. It deals with the troubled relationship of

516-470: A friend of hers, Margarethe "Grete" Bloch, a Jewish woman from Berlin. Brod says that Bloch gave birth to Kafka's son, although Kafka never knew about the child. The boy, whose name is not known, was born in 1914 or 1915 and died in Munich in 1921. However, Kafka's biographer Peter-André Alt says that, while Bloch had a son, Kafka was not the father, as the pair were never intimate. Stach points out that there

602-419: A grand scale, of course with all the defects and weaknesses that go with all these advantages and into which your temperament and sometimes your hot temper drive you". On business days, both parents were absent from the home, with Julie Kafka working as many as 12 hours each day helping to manage the family business. Consequently, Kafka's childhood was somewhat lonely, and the children were reared largely by

688-909: A quality of exaltation bordering on transcendental metaphysical contemplation. An illustrious example is Franz Kafka". Towards the end of his life Kafka sent a postcard to his friend Hugo Bergmann in Tel Aviv, announcing his intention to emigrate to Palestine. Bergmann refused to host Kafka because he had young children and was afraid that Kafka would infect them with tuberculosis. Kafka's laryngeal tuberculosis worsened and in March 1924 he returned from Berlin to Prague, where members of his family, principally his sister Ottla and Dora Diamant, took care of him. He went to Hugo Hoffmann's sanatorium in Kierling just outside Vienna for treatment on 10 April, and died there on 3 June 1924. The cause of death seemed to be starvation:

774-450: A range of career possibilities, which pleased his father. In addition, law required a longer course of study, giving Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. He also joined a student club, Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten (Reading and Lecture Hall of the German students), which organised literary events, readings and other activities. Among Kafka's friends were

860-405: A risk category, which cost them more in insurance premiums. He would compile and compose the annual report on the insurance institute for the several years he worked there. The reports were well received by his superiors. Kafka usually got off work at 2 p.m., so that he had time to spend on his literary work, to which he was committed. Kafka's father also expected him to help out at and take over

946-485: A sense of humour; they also found him handsome, although of austere appearance. Kafka was thought to be "very self-analytic". Brod compared Kafka to Heinrich von Kleist , noting that both writers had the ability to describe a situation realistically with precise details. Brod thought Kafka was one of the most entertaining people he had met; Kafka enjoyed sharing his humour with his friends but also helped them in difficult situations with good advice. According to Brod, he

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1032-445: A series of governesses and servants. Kafka's troubled relationship with his father is evident in his Brief an den Vater ( Letter to His Father ) of more than 100 pages, in which he complains of being profoundly affected by his father's authoritarian and demanding character; his mother, in contrast, was quiet and shy. The dominating figure of Kafka's father had a significant influence on Kafka's writing. The Kafka family had

1118-536: A servant girl living with them in a cramped apartment. Franz's room was often cold. In November 1913, the family moved into a bigger apartment, although Ellie and Valli had married and moved out of the first apartment. In early August 1914, just after World War I began, the sisters did not know where their husbands were in the military and moved back in with the family in this larger apartment. Both Ellie and Valli also had children. Franz at age 31 moved into Valli's former apartment, quiet by contrast, and lived by himself for

1204-410: A socialist, I became a Zionist in 1898. The synthesis of Zionism and socialism did not yet exist." Bergmann claims that Kafka wore a red carnation to school to show his support for socialism . In one diary entry, Kafka made reference to the influential anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin : "Don't forget Kropotkin!" During the communist era, the legacy of Kafka's work for Eastern Bloc socialism

1290-462: A son, Felix (1911–1940), and two daughters, Gertrude (Gerti) Kaufmann (1912–1972), and Hanna Seidner (1920–1941). After her marriage to Hermann, she became closer to her brother, whose letters showed an active interest in the upbringing and education of her children. He accompanied her on a 1915 trip to Hungary to visit Hermann, who was stationed there, and spent a summer with her and her children in Müritz

1376-429: A state of near-disrepair "half-ruined") and renovated to it's current state in 1846 by Count Josef von Trauttmansdorff. During the years of fascist Italy the castle was called di Nova Castle ( Torrente Nova is the name of a little brook near Trauttmansdorff). When the castle was rebuilt in 1846, Count Josef von Trauttmansdorff opted to enlarge the building. However, due to the combination of new and old buildings on

1462-508: Is (symbolically) arrested by a German (Rabensteiner), a Czech (Kullich), and a Jew (Kaminer). He stands for the 'guiltless guilt' that imbues the Jew in the modern world, although there is no evidence that he himself is a Jew". In his essay Sadness in Palestine?! , Dan Miron explores Kafka's connection to Zionism: "It seems that those who claim that there was such a connection and that Zionism played

1548-491: Is August with 96 mm, while the driest is February with only 25 mm. This data was measured at the weather station Merano/Gratsch at an altitude of 333 metres between 1983 and 2017. The area is well known for its wines, both white and red, and vineyards extend right into the city. The local wine, Meraner Leiten (Meranese di collina) , is a light red wine , best drunk young. There are also extensive orchards, and apples are exported throughout Europe. The Forst Brewery on

1634-545: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Merano Merano ( UK : / m ə ˈ r ɑː n oʊ / , US : / m eɪ ˈ -/ ; Italian: [meˈraːno] ) or Meran ( German: [meˈʁaːn] ) is a comune (municipality) in South Tyrol , Northern Italy . Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin , surrounded by mountains standing up to 3,335 metres (10,942 feet) above sea level , at

1720-948: Is a great deal of contradictory evidence around the claim that Kafka was the father. Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in August 1917 and moved for a few months to the Bohemian village of Zürau (Siřem in Czech), where his sister Ottla worked on the farm of her brother-in-law Karl Hermann. He felt comfortable there and later described this time as perhaps the best period of his life, probably because he had no responsibilities. He kept diaries and made notes in exercise books ( Oktavhefte ). From those notes, Kafka extracted 109 numbered pieces of text on single pieces of paper ( Zettel ); these were later published as Die Zürauer Aphorismen oder Betrachtungen über Sünde, Hoffnung, Leid und den wahren Weg (The Zürau Aphorisms or Reflections on Sin, Hope, Suffering, and

1806-458: Is a typical factor in Romanesque architecture. The interior hall in the castle is decorated with a Baroque ceiling mural surrounded by layers of molding and marble pilasters. Other rooms within the castle (such as the imperial rooms) have Romanesque/Gothic interior windows, this is shown by the mix of rounded and pointed arch shaped windows. The castle and grounds are now a tourism site and home to

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1892-423: Is assumed she did not survive the war. Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister. Hermann is described by Kafka scholar and translator Stanley Corngold as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman" and by Franz Kafka as "a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly dominance, endurance, presence of mind, knowledge of human nature, a certain way of doing things on

1978-711: Is close to being humid subtropical ( Cfa ) due to the mean temperature in July being just under 22 °C; even on those terms, the overnight lows in the winter bring the mean temperatures low enough for the city as a whole to have continental ( Dfa/Dfb ) influences with more distinct seasons. The average daily temperatures in summer in Merano lie between 27 and 30 °C, while at night temperatures usually drop to between 12 and 15 °C. The average daily temperatures in winter lie between 6 and 10 °C, while at night temperatures usually drop to between -4 and -2 °C. The wettest month

2064-471: Is named after the city, from its successful use by Akiba Rubinstein against Ernst Grünfeld during a tournament held in the city in 1924. In 1981, the World Chess Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi was held in Merano. The first act of the musical Chess also has a world chess championship match set in Merano, and features a song entitled "Merano", which includes

2150-632: The French occupation drew attention again to Merano. In that year, on the Küchelberg above the city, a peasants' army eked out a victory against the united French and Bavarian forces before their revolt was finally crushed. After World War I , under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Merano became part of the Kingdom of Italy with the rest of the southern part of the former Cisleithanian crown land of Tyrol. During

2236-619: The Habsburg dynasty in 1363 upon the abdication of Margaret, Countess of Tyrol , in 1420 Duke Friedrich IV of Austria moved the Tyrolean court to Innsbruck . Though Merano remained the official capital until 1848, it subsequently lost its predominant position and almost all its importance as an economic hub across the roads connecting Italy and Germany. The important mint was also moved to Hall in Tirol in 1477. The Tyrolean Rebellion of 1809 against

2322-533: The Nazi occupation of the region in 1943–5, the Meranese Jewish population was almost completely deported and murdered within concentration camps. The city's coat of arms depicts the red Tyrolean eagle sitting on a wall with four pieces of Ghibelline battlements and three arches that symbolize the city. The arms is known from the 14th century and the oldest seal dates from 1353, while the coloured one since 1390. In

2408-572: The New Jewish Cemetery in Prague-Žižkov . Kafka was virtually unknown during his own lifetime, but he did not consider fame important. He rose to fame rapidly after his death, particularly after World War II. The Kafka tombstone was designed by architect Leopold Ehrmann . All of Kafka's published works, except some letters he wrote in Czech to Milena Jesenská, were written in German. What little

2494-615: The Passer river and dates to the 17th century. The city saw further development as it became increasingly popular as a spa resort, especially after Empress Elisabeth of Austria started visiting. Dating from the 19th century are the Civic Theatre , the Kurhaus and the Empress Elisabeth Park . Also famous are the arched Wandelhalle promenades along the river. After the annexation of

2580-577: The Touriseum , a museum of tourism. Additionally, since 2001 the surrounding grounds have been open as the Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens , a botanical garden . [REDACTED] Media related to Trauttmansdorff Castle at Wikimedia Commons 46°39′39″N 11°11′07″E  /  46.66083°N 11.18528°E  / 46.66083; 11.18528 This article about a castle in Italy

2666-531: The Berlin Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums (College for the Study of Judaism), where he also studied Talmud . Livia Rothkirchen calls Kafka the "symbolic figure of his era". His contemporaries included numerous Jewish, Czech, and German writers who were sensitive to Jewish, Czech, and German culture. According to Rothkirchen, "This situation lent their writings a broad cosmopolitan outlook and

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2752-558: The Holocaust of the Second World War . Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister. Gabriele was Kafka's eldest sister. She was known as Elli or Ellie; her married name is variously rendered as Hermann or Hermannová. She attended a German girls' school in Prague's Řeznická Street and later a private girls' secondary school. She married Karl Hermann (1883–1939), a salesman, in 1910. The couple had

2838-603: The Jewish male into his own self-image and writing". Kafka considered suicide at least once, in late 1912. Before World War I, Kafka attended several meetings of the Klub mladých , a Czech anarchist, anti-militarist , and anti-clerical organization. Hugo Bergmann , who attended the same elementary and high schools as Kafka, fell out with Kafka during their last academic year (1900–1901) because "[Kafka's] socialism and my Zionism were much too strident". Bergmann said: "Franz became

2924-779: The Kafka family to Prague. After working as a travelling sales representative, he eventually became a fashion retailer who employed up to 15 people and used the image of a jackdaw ( kavka in Czech, pronounced and colloquially written as kafka ) as his business logo. Kafka's mother, Julie (1856–1934), was the daughter of Jakob Löwy, a prosperous retail merchant in Poděbrady , and was better educated than her husband. Kafka's parents, from traditional Jewish society, spoke German replete with influences from their native Yiddish ; their children, raised in an acculturated environment, spoke Standard German . Hermann and Julie had six children, of whom Franz

3010-567: The Kingdom of Bohemia and its successor under the Czechoslovak Republic, rising to the position of chief legal secretary. Being employed full-time forced Kafka to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained and formal relationship. He became engaged to several women but never married. He died in obscurity in 1924 at

3096-589: The Psychiatric Clinic, University of Munich , presented "evidence for the hypothesis that the writer Franz Kafka had suffered from an atypical anorexia nervosa ", and that Kafka was not just lonely and depressed but also "occasionally suicidal". In his 1995 book Franz Kafka, the Jewish Patient , Sander Gilman investigated "why a Jew might have been considered ' hypochondriacal ' or 'homosexual' and how Kafka incorporates aspects of these ways of understanding

3182-567: The True Way). In 1920, Kafka began an intense relationship with Milena Jesenská , a Czech journalist and writer who was non-Jewish and who was married, but when she met Kafka, her marriage was a "sham". His letters to her were later published as Briefe an Milena . During a vacation in July 1923 to Graal-Müritz on the Baltic Sea , Kafka met Dora Diamant , a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from an orthodox Jewish family. Kafka, hoping to escape

3268-1033: The age of 40 from tuberculosis . Kafka was a prolific writer, spending most of his free time writing, often late into the night. He burned an estimated 90 percent of his total work due to his persistent struggles with self-doubt. Much of the remaining 10 percent is lost or otherwise unpublished. Few of Kafka's works were published during his lifetime; although the story collections Contemplation and A Country Doctor , and individual stories, such as his novella The Metamorphosis , were published in literary magazines, they received little attention. In his will, Kafka instructed his close friend and literary executor Max Brod to destroy his unfinished works, including his novels The Trial , The Castle , and Amerika , but Brod ignored these instructions and had much of his work published. Kafka's writings became famous in German-speaking countries after World War II, influencing German literature , and its influence spread elsewhere in

3354-584: The battlement represented the districts of Maia Bassa, Merano (old city), Maia Alta, Quarazze and Avelengo , which were incorporated into the city by the Italian fascists. After World War II, Avelengo became independent again and the historical coat of arms was restored. Among the city's landmarks are the medieval city gates such as the Vinschgauer Tor , Passeirer Tor , and the Bozener Tor . Also belonging to

3440-540: The business, but he later resented the encroachment of this work on his writing time. During that period, he also found interest and entertainment in the performances of Yiddish theatre . After seeing a Yiddish theatre troupe perform in October 1911, for the next six months Kafka "immersed himself in Yiddish language and in Yiddish literature". This interest also served as a starting point for his growing exploration of Judaism. It

3526-562: The capital of the Czech Republic , also known as Czechia). He trained as a lawyer, and after completing his legal education was employed full-time, for a year handling cases for the indigent in the city's Provincial and Criminal Courts by an insurance company, then working for nine months for an Italian insurance company, and finally, starting in 1908, spending 14 years with the Austrian Imperial and Royal Workmen's Accident Institute for

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3612-521: The castle was previously home to the Neuburg Fortress (built prior to the 1300's). The property was bought in the early 1500's by Nikolaus von Trauttmansdorff. Additionally, since 1543, the castle and gardens were owned by the House of Trauttamansdorff , one of the oldest and most distinguished Austrian noble families . The castle was abandoned in the early 1700's by the family and was later bought back (in

3698-611: The city and in the surrounding hills, not least "Meran/o 2000", where there is also skiing in winter. The city is reachable with the railway Bolzano -Merano, which continues to the Vinschgau Railway Merano-Malles. According to the 2011 census, 50.47% of the resident population spoke German as mother language, 49.06% Italian, and 0.47% Ladin . A chess opening , the Meran Variation of the Semi-Slav Defense ,

3784-556: The city by Italy in 1919, the Fascist authorities constructed the new city hall in the 1920s. Outside the city is Trauttmansdorff Castle and its gardens . Located there is the Museum of Tourism, which was opened in the spring of 2003 and shows the historical development of tourism in the province. Tirol Castle is also close by. Merano is on the borderline between several climates. Officially, it has an oceanic climate ( Cfb ). However, it

3870-406: The condition of Kafka's throat made eating too painful for him, and since parenteral nutrition had not yet been developed, there was no way to feed him. Kafka was editing " A Hunger Artist " on his deathbed, a story whose composition he had begun before his throat closed to the point that he could not take any nourishment. His body was brought back to Prague where he was buried on 11 June 1924, in

3956-427: The edge of the city produces a popular range of beers, sold throughout Italy and Europe. Merano organizes the following events every year. Every second year, the literature competition Merano Poetry Prize (Lyrikpreis Meran) is held in Merano. Merano is a popular tourist destination especially for Germans and Italians. In the summer, there are concerts on the promenade almost daily, and there are fine walks around

4042-534: The eightieth anniversary of his birth, reassessed the importance of Kafka's portrayal of bureaucracy. Whether Kafka was a political writer is still an issue of debate. Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew. He was deeply fascinated by the Jews of Eastern Europe , who he thought possessed an intensity of spiritual life that was absent from Jews in the West. His diary contains many references to Yiddish writers . Yet he

4128-560: The entrance to the Passeier Valley and the Vinschgau . The city has been a popular place of residence for several scientists, literary people, and artists, including Franz Kafka , Paul Lazarsfeld and also Empress Elisabeth of Austria , who appreciated its mild climate . Both the Italian ( Merano ) and the German ( Meran ) names for the city are used in English. The Ladin form of

4214-430: The family fancy goods store. In his later years, Kafka's illness often prevented him from working at the insurance bureau and at his writing. In late 1911, Elli's husband Karl Hermann and Kafka became partners in the first asbestos factory in Prague, known as Prager Asbestwerke Hermann & Co., having used dowry money from Hermann Kafka. Kafka showed a positive attitude at first, dedicating much of his free time to

4300-408: The first issue of the literary journal Hyperion under the title Betrachtung ( Contemplation ). He wrote the story " Beschreibung eines Kampfes " ("Description of a Struggle") in 1904; in 1905 he showed it to Brod, who advised him to continue writing and convinced him to submit it to Hyperion . Kafka published a fragment in 1908 and two sections in the spring of 1909, all in Munich. In

4386-449: The first time. From 1889 to 1893, Kafka attended the German boys' elementary school at the Masný trh/Fleischmarkt (meat market), now known as Masná Street. His Jewish education ended with his bar mitzvah celebration at the age of 13. Kafka never enjoyed attending the synagogue and went with his father only on four high holidays each year. After leaving elementary school in 1893, Kafka

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4472-566: The fortifications is the medieval Ortenstein tower, popularly called Pulverturm (lit. "powder tower"). The main churches are the Gothic St. Nicholas' Church and the St. Barbara's Chapel , both dating to the 15th century. Also dating to this period is the Princely Castle ( Landesfürstliche Burg ), which was a residence of Archduke Sigismund of Austria . The Steinerner Steg stone bridge crosses

4558-796: The group of writers, which included Kafka, Felix Weltsch and Brod himself. Brod soon noticed that, although Kafka was shy and seldom spoke, what he said was usually profound. Kafka was an avid reader throughout his life; together he and Brod read Plato's Protagoras in the original Greek , on Brod's initiative, and Flaubert 's L'éducation sentimentale and La Tentation de St. Antoine ( The Temptation of Saint Anthony ) in French, at his own suggestion. Kafka considered Fyodor Dostoevsky , Gustave Flaubert, Nikolai Gogol , Franz Grillparzer , and Heinrich von Kleist to be his "true blood brothers ". Besides these, he took an interest in Czech literature and

4644-729: The influence of his family to concentrate on his writing, moved briefly to Berlin (September 1923-March 1924) and lived with Diamant. She became his lover and sparked his interest in the Talmud . He worked on four stories, including Ein Hungerkünstler ( A Hunger Artist ), which were published shortly after his death. Kafka's parents had six children; Franz was the eldest. His two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy; his three sisters, Gabriele ("Elli") (September 22, 1889 – fall of 1942), Valerie ("Valli") (1890–1942) and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1892–1943), are believed to have been murdered in

4730-423: The journalist Felix Weltsch , who studied philosophy, the actor Yitzchak Lowy who came from an orthodox Hasidic Warsaw family, and the writers Ludwig Winder , Oskar Baum and Franz Werfel . At the end of his first year of studies, Kafka met Max Brod , a fellow law student who became a close friend for life. Years later, Brod coined the term Der enge Prager Kreis ("The Close Prague Circle") to describe

4816-480: The language, though he spoke German with a Czech accent. He completed his Matura exams in 1901. Kafka was admitted to the Deutsche Karl-Ferdinands-Universität of Prague in 1901. He was originally admitted for philosophy, and he had additionally signed up for chemistry. Kafka began studying chemistry but switched to law after two weeks. Although this field did not excite him, it offered

4902-516: The line, "rosy-cheeked Merano, flourishing to a fault". The city's handball team, Pallamano Merano  [ it ] , is one of the most successful in Italy, winning the scudetto in 2005. The ice hockey team won two national championships but currently plays in the second division, Serie B . Each September, the Gran Premio Merano takes place in the Maia Racecourse ; this is

4988-414: The marriage never took place. During this time, Kafka began a draft of Letter to His Father . Before the date of the intended marriage, he took up with yet another woman. While he needed women and sex in his life, he had low self-confidence, felt sex was dirty, and was cripplingly shy—especially about his body. Stach and Brod state that during the time that Kafka knew Felice Bauer, he had an affair with

5074-443: The most famous Italian Steeplechase . Merano hosted the 1953 , 1971 and 1983 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships . This is where the well known 'Merano' move was created due to a tricky upstream gate. This move is now used and well known by many slalom paddlers worldwide. The twin towns and sister cities are: Franz Kafka This is an accepted version of this page Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924)

5160-404: The name is Maran . The official name of the municipality ( comune ) is Comune di Merano in Italian and Stadtgemeinde Meran in German (both are in official use). Archaic names of the city are Mairania (from AD 857) and an der Meran (from the 15th century). In 17th-century Latin , the city was called Meranum . The area has been inhabited since the third millennium BC, as shown by

5246-479: The next five years, met occasionally, and were engaged twice. Kafka's extant letters to Bauer were published as Briefe an Felice ( Letters to Felice ); her letters did not survive. After he had written to Bauer's father asking to marry her, Kafka wrote in his diary: My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature.... I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else ... Nervous states of

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5332-527: The novella The Metamorphosis and the novels The Trial and The Castle . The term Kafkaesque has entered English to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing. Kafka was born into a middle-class German- and Yiddish -speaking Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia , which belonged to the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today

5418-526: The presence of menhirs and other finds. The story of the city proper began in 15 BC when the Romans occupied the Adige valley founding a road station, Statio Maiensis . The settlement was first mentioned in an 857 deed as Mairania . The Counts at Castle Tyrol elevated Merano to the status of a city during the 13th century and made it the capital of their County of Tyrol . After the county had been handed over to

5504-464: The side there is a mix of mostly three periods, first Gothic , secondly Romanesque , and finally Baroque . A key feature of Romanesque architecture is the repetition of design/building elements; this can be seen in the repetition and placement of windows seen on the facade of the castle. Secondly, the variety of windows along with the contrast of roofs and overlooks/fortifications in place of roofs align with Romanesque architecture as variety and contrast

5590-519: The spring of 1942. She was probably killed in the Kulmhof extermination camp in the fall of 1942. Of Elli's three children, only her daughter Gerti survived the Second World War . A memorial plaque commemorates the three sisters at the family grave in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague. Kafka had a lifelong suspicion that people found him mentally and physically repulsive. However, many of those who met him found him to possess obvious intelligence and

5676-559: The time. It was especially true of factories fitted with machine lathes , drills , planing machines and rotary saws , which were rarely fitted with safety guards. His father often referred to his son's job as an insurance officer as a Brotberuf , literally "bread job", a job done only to pay the bills; Kafka often claimed to despise it. Kafka was rapidly promoted and his duties included processing and investigating compensation claims, writing reports, and handling appeals from businessmen who thought their firms had been placed in too high

5762-615: The work of Hans Blüher on male bonding. Saul Friedländer argues that this mental struggle may have informed the themes of alienation and psychological brutality in his writing. Although Kafka showed little interest in exercise as a child, he later developed a passion for games and physical activity and was an accomplished rider, swimmer, and rower. On weekends, he and his friends embarked on long hikes, often planned by Kafka himself. His other interests included alternative medicine , modern education systems such as Montessori , and technological novelties such as airplanes and film. Writing

5848-588: The world in the 1960s. It has also influenced artists, composers, and philosophers. Kafka was born near the Old Town Square in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His family were German-speaking middle-class Ashkenazi Jews . His father, Hermann Kafka (1854–1931), was the fourth child of Jakob Kafka, a shochet or ritual slaughterer in Osek , a Czech village with a large Jewish population located near Strakonice in southern Bohemia. Hermann brought

5934-403: The worst sort control me without pause ... A marriage could not change me, just as my job cannot change me. According to the biographers Stach and James Hawes , Kafka became engaged a third time around 1920, to Julie Wohryzek, a poor and uneducated hotel chambermaid. Kafka's father objected to Julie because of her Zionist beliefs. Although Kafka and Julie rented a flat and set a wedding date,

6020-539: The year before he died. With the outbreak of the Great Depression in 1929, the Hermann family business experienced financial difficulties and eventually went bankrupt. Karl Hermann died February 27, 1939, and Elli was supported financially by her sisters. On October 21, 1941, she was deported together with her daughter Hanna to the Łódź Ghetto , where she lived temporarily with her sister Valli and Valli's husband in

6106-589: Was a passionate reciter, able to phrase his speech as though it were music. Brod felt that two of Kafka's most distinguishing traits were "absolute truthfulness" ( absolute Wahrhaftigkeit ) and "precise conscientiousness" ( präzise Gewissenhaftigkeit ). He explored inconspicuous details in depth and with such precision and love that unforeseen things surfaced that seemed strange but absolutely true ( nichts als wahr ). Kafka's letters and unexpurgated diaries reveal repressed homoerotic desires, including an infatuation with novelist Franz Werfel and fascination with

6192-488: Was admitted to the rigorous classics-oriented state gymnasium , Altstädter Deutsches Gymnasium , an academic secondary school at Old Town Square, located within Kinský Palace . German was the language of instruction, but Kafka also spoke and wrote in Czech. He studied the latter at the gymnasium for eight years, achieving good grades. Although Kafka received compliments for his Czech, he never considered himself fluent in

6278-464: Was also very fond of the works of Goethe . Kafka was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as a law clerk for the civil and criminal courts. On 1 November 1907, Kafka was employed at the Assicurazioni Generali , an insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year. His correspondence during that period indicates that he

6364-484: Was an Austrian-Czech novelist and writer from Prague . He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature ; he wrote in German. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic . It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio- bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation , existential anxiety , guilt , and absurdity . His best known works include

6450-467: Was at about this time that Kafka became a vegetarian. Around 1915, Kafka received his draft notice for military service in World War   I, but his employers at the insurance institute arranged for a deferment because his work was considered essential government service. He later attempted to join the military but was prevented from doing so by medical problems associated with tuberculosis , with which he

6536-407: Was at times alienated from Judaism and Jewish life. On 8 January 1914, he wrote in his diary: In his adolescent years, Kafka declared himself an atheist . Hawes suggests that Kafka, though very aware of his own Jewishness , did not incorporate it into his work, which, according to Hawes, lacks Jewish characters, scenes or themes. In the opinion of literary critic Harold Bloom , although Kafka

6622-456: Was diagnosed in 1917. In 1918, the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute put Kafka on a pension due to his illness, for which there was no cure at the time, and he spent most of the rest of his life in sanatoriums . Kafka never married. According to Brod, Kafka was "tortured" by sexual desire, and Kafka's biographer Reiner Stach states that his life was full of "incessant womanising" and that he

6708-469: Was filled with a fear of "sexual failure". Kafka visited brothels for most of his adult life and was interested in pornography. In addition, he had close relationships with several women during his lifetime. On 13 August 1912, Kafka met Felice Bauer , a relative of Brod's, who worked in Berlin as a representative of a dictaphone company. A week after the meeting at Brod's home, Kafka wrote in his diary: Miss FB. When I arrived at Brod's on 13 August, she

6794-502: Was hotly debated. Opinions ranged from the notion that he satirised the bureaucratic bungling of a crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire , to the belief that he embodied the rise of socialism. A further key point was Marx's theory of alienation . While the orthodox position was that Kafka's depictions of alienation were no longer relevant for a society that had supposedly eliminated alienation, a 1963 conference held in Liblice , Czechoslovakia, on

6880-681: Was published during his lifetime attracted scant public attention. Kafka finished none of his full-length novels and burned around 90 percent of his work, much of it during the period he lived in Berlin with Diamant, who helped him burn the drafts. In his early years as a writer he was influenced by von Kleist, whose work he described in a letter to Bauer as frightening and whom he considered closer than his own family. Kafka drew and sketched extensively. Until May 2021, only about 40 of his drawings were known. In 2022, Yale University Press published Franz Kafka: The Drawings . Kafka's earliest published works were eight stories that appeared in 1908 in

6966-435: Was sitting at the table. I was not at all curious about who she was, but rather took her for granted at once. Bony, empty face that wore its emptiness openly. Bare throat. A blouse thrown on. Looked very domestic in her dress although, as it turned out, she by no means was. (I alienate myself from her a little by inspecting her so closely ...) Almost broken nose. Blonde, somewhat straight, unattractive hair, strong chin. As I

7052-431: Was taking my seat I looked at her closely for the first time, by the time I was seated I already had an unshakeable opinion. Shortly after this meeting, Kafka wrote the story " Das Urteil " ("The Judgment") in only one night and in a productive period worked on Der Verschollene ( The Man Who Disappeared ) and Die Verwandlung ( The Metamorphosis ). Kafka and Felice Bauer communicated mostly through letters over

7138-401: Was the eldest. Franz's two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy before Franz was seven; his three sisters were Gabriele ("Elli") (1889–1942), Valerie ("Valli") (1890–1942) and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1892–1943). All three were murdered in the Holocaust of World War II . Valli was deported to the Łódź Ghetto in occupied Poland in 1942, but that is the last documentation of her; it

7224-400: Was uneasy with his Jewish heritage, he was the quintessential Jewish writer. Lothar Kahn is likewise unequivocal: "The presence of Jewishness in Kafka's oeuvre is no longer subject to doubt". Pavel Eisner , one of Kafka's first translators, interprets Der Process ( The Trial ) as the embodiment of the "triple dimension of Jewish existence in Prague   ... his protagonist Josef K.

7310-595: Was unhappy with a work schedule—from 08:00 until 18:00 —that made it extremely difficult to concentrate on writing, which was assuming increasing importance to him. On 15 July 1908, he resigned. Two weeks later, he found employment more amenable to writing when he joined the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia ( Úrazová pojišťovna dělnická pro Čechy v Praze ). The job involved investigating and assessing compensation for personal injury to industrial workers; accidents such as lost fingers or limbs were commonplace, owing to poor work safety policies at

7396-835: Was vitally important to Kafka; he considered it a "form of prayer". He was highly sensitive to noise and preferred absolute quiet when writing. Kafka was also a vegetarian and did not drink alcohol. Pérez-Álvarez has claimed that Kafka had symptomatology consistent with schizoid personality disorder . His style, it is claimed, not only in Die Verwandlung ( The Metamorphosis ) but in other writings, appears to show low- to medium-level schizoid traits, which Pérez-Álvarez claims to have influenced much of his work. His anguish can be seen in this diary entry from 21 June 1913: and in Zürau Aphorism number 50: Italian medical researchers Alessia Coralli and Antonio Perciaccante have posited in

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